The Akatsuki's Rival: The Power of Human Sacrifice
by SKYHOUSE
Summary: Naruto ends up rescuing Gaara before the Akatsuki is able to extract his tailed beast. Realizing they don't want this to happen to anyone else, Naruto and Gaara decide to create a fake criminal organization to recruit jinchuriki and save them from the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki doesn't know this and they declare them as their rivals. Who will come out on top?
1. Saving Gaara

**THE AKATSUKI'S RIVAL: THE POWER OF HUMAN SACRIFICE**

**CHAPTER 1:**

"GAARA!"

Naruto and Team Seven were racing through the woods being followed by Team Guy. They were on a mission to rescue the Kazekage from the Akatsuki, but it was much more than a mission to Naruto. Gaara was one of his kind, and also one of his closest friends. He had to save him before it was too late.

"GAARA!" Naruto yelled again. His was anger and frustration caused him to pick up the pace. Why were they doing this? What did they want with Gaara?

"Slow down, Naruto!" Kakashi ordered. "You don't even know where you're going!"

"I don't care. We have to save Gaara!" Naruto flew through the trees even faster than before, leaving the others behind in the dust.

Kakashi sighed mentally. _**"He still doesn't listen,"**_he thought to himself.

"Naruto is right, Guy Sensei! We should double our speed to save Gaara!" Lee exclaimed.

"Good thinkin', Lee! In fact I'd say we should triple our speed for the extra exercise! What do you say?"

"That sounds most excellent, Guy Sensei! And second thought, I think we should quadruple our speed!"

"Good idea, Lee! LEEEET'S GOOOOO! FEEL THE POWER OF YOUTH WITHIN YOU!"

Neji and Tenten could only groan when their sensei and Lee took off at high speed, leaving them behind in the back. After a few seconds they were no longer in sight, along with Naruto who was nowhere to be found.

"Let's go Tenten. We may as well catch up with them," Neji said.

"Well, there's no use complaining about it now," Tenten agreed. The both of them raced past Kakashi and Team 7 to keep up their overly-excitable teammates.

"I'm going to go along with them to make sure Naruto doesn't do anything reckless," Kakashi told the rest of his team. But before they could reply he vanished along with the others. Now only Sakura and Sai were left.

"I'd say we go with them, Sakura. We don't want to be left behind." Sai told her.

"What?! We'd have to be sprinting to keep up with them! And we're probably still miles away from where the Akatsuki are!" Sakura complained to her emotionless teammate. "And besides, we weren't trained under Team Guy. There's no way we can keep up with their speed!"

"Well I was trained under the ANBU Black Ops, so I'll be okay. And as much as I hate to admit it, Naruto's right. Who knows what they're planning to do with Gaara."

Sakura grumbled under her breath. "Your right. Let's go then." Sai nodded and they took off to keep up with the rest. After fifteen minutes of sprinting, they finally caught up them. Everyone stopped to rest in the trees, much to Naruto's dismay.

"Why are we stopping?" Naruto annoyingly asked.

Kakashi ignored him. "Neji, use your Byakugan."

"I'm on it," Neji replied. He activated his Byakugan and veins appeared next to his eyes. He looked around the area to see if he could find anything. He looked to the North and found something strange flying through the sky.

"I-I think see something," Neji said unsurely.

"What is it, Neji?! Can you see them?! Is it those damn Akatsuki members?! Do they have Gaara?!"

"Be quiet Naruto! Neji's trying to focus!" Tenten scolded him.

"I'm not sure how to say this, but there's a giant owl flying several miles to the North of us."

"Eh?!" said Naruto.

"And the strange thing is, it doesn't seem to have any chakra reserves in it. And that means it's not a living creature, but rather a creation made by someone else."

"Can you see anything other than that?" Kakashi asked.

"No, I cannot. But the owl seems to be carrying something, or someone, that does have chakra reserves. It could be Gaara."

"Say no more!" With that, Naruto took off before anyone could try and stop him.

"Let's go, everyone," Kakashi said. "We can't let Naruto face the Akatsuki alone. If we do, they will try to capture him as well."

"Why?" asked Sakura.

"Yeah, what do the Akatsuki want with Gaara and Naruto anyway?" Tenten asked. Kakashi was hesitant to give them an answer. Naruto's jinchuriki status was still supposed to be kept an S-ranked secret by order of the third Hokage, however it was managed to be leaked out a long time ago. One by one random people started to find out and it spread like wildfire throughout the village. It was the reason why the villagers treated Naruto so poorly during his childhood, as they saw him for the beast itself rather than its jailer. But it was different now because even Naruto understood and accepted himself for what he was. Kakashi looked over to Guy who gave him the confirmation nod to tell them.

"Well, where should I start?" Kakashi nervously rubbed the back of his head while the others stared at him intently. "You guys know about the Nine-Tailed Fox that attacked our village a while ago, right?"

"Of course. There's a festival held every year celebrating our survival," Neji said.

"Yeah. The fourth Hokage killed it, but at the cost of his own life." Tenten added.

"A wretched day indeed." said Lee.

"You guys are only partially correct," Sai said. The others looked at him with confused looks on their faces. Once being a member of Root under Danzo, he knew a lot of things that the others didn't.

"What are you saying Sai?" Sakura asked her teammate. "Everything they said was true."

"Not quite!" Everyone turned their attention to Guy. "A tailed beast can be captured but not killed. And even if they are killed, they would simply be reincarnated a few years later. That's why most of the time they are sealed away inside a human body."

"So, the fourth Hokage didn't kill it then?" Sakura asked.

"He couldn't," Kakashi closed his eyes and remembered the day. "The Nine-Tails was too powerful. He could only seal away half of its chakra inside himself, and the other half…. Into someone else."

"What?!" exclaimed Sakura. "Who was the other person?"

"Shouldn't be obvious by now?" Kakashi let the question sit there for a bit. Neji, being the smartest out of the bunch, got it immediately, while the others still looked hopelessly confused.

"I understand now," Neji said.

"What? I still don't get it." said Tenten.

"Just think about it. On what exact day did the Nine-Tails attack?"

Tenten thought about it for a bit. "October tenth,"

"Right. And how many years ago was that?"

"Um…..Fifteen? Yeah! Fifteen years ago."

"And how old is Naruto?"

After thinking for a few moments, Tenten's eyes widened with realization. As well as Lee's, who's eyes couldn't get any bigger than they already were.

"Wait," Sakura stepped into the conversation. "You're not saying that the Fourth Hokage-"

"That's right," Neji interrupted. "He sealed the Nine-Tails inside Naruto on the exact day when he was born."

"It never occurred to you why Naruto never shows up for the festival, or why he never celebrates his birthday?" Kakashi said.

"It explains a lot," Tenten said.

"Oh Naruto…" said Sakura.

"It is a big misfortune for Naruto indeed!" Lee added.

"It also explains his huge chakra reserves," Neji said.

"What do you mean Neji?" Tenten asked.

"On the day I fought him during the Chunin exams, I was certain that I had blocked all of his chakra points. However, there was this new chakra that appeared within him. It was so vile, but it was also incredible. Ultimately, it gave him the power to defeat me in the match."

"What you saw Neji was the Nine-Tails chakra taking over him. This mostly happens when he becomes enraged, but when you fought him, I was told that he did it to himself willingly." Kakashi explained. "However, Naruto's isn't the only one with a tailed beast." The others stared, waiting for him to continue.

"Gaara also has a tailed beast inside him. The One-Tail. " The others were shocked to hear this. They knew Gaara was powerful, but they didn't know that he possessed a tailed beast.

"Naruto and Gaara are called jinchuriki. There are most likely more people just like them around the world. And that's probably why the Akatsuki are after them."

"They want to take the tailed beasts that are sealed inside them," Neji guessed.

"That's right, Neji," said Guy. "But for what, the reason is still unknown."

"And that's why Naruto is so determined to save Gaara," Sakura said with realization. "Gaara is one of his kind."

Kakashi nodded sadly. He was concerned about what would happen to Naruto if they couldn't find Gaara in time. The last thing they needed was for him to go berserk and lose control. Not only would the Akatsuki notice, but the beast would try and take over him as well.

Lee slammed his fist into the palm of his own hand. "That is most un-youthful! How dare they do this to Naruto and Gaara! I shall not let them!"

Guy wrapped a proud arm his most youthful student. "I agree with you, Lee. That's why we shall protect Naruto and rescue Gaara all in the same day. WHOOOO'S WITH ME!" Guy pumped his fist into the air.

"Right!" Everyone else said.

"Let's get going," Kakashi said. "Naruto's probably pretty far away by now. We need to catch up with him."

* * *

Sasori and Deidara walked calmly through the forest. Deidara's owl was carrying the One-Tails jinchuriki above them, and they were bickering the entire way.

"Who do you think is the strongest jinchuriki?" Deidara asked Sasori.

"How am I supposed to know?" Sasori said in his rusty old voice. "This is the first jinchuriki we've caught so far."

"I'm just speaking hypothetically here, Sasori. No need to get all grumpy on me now." His partner grumbled inaudibly, but Deidara kept up his smirk. "This is the jinchuriki of the One-Tail, right? I wonder what it would be like to take down the strongest one. Because to be honest, this one wasn't much of a challenge."

"Why did you keep me waiting all that time then?!" Sasori shot back at him.

"Okay, okay. So maybe he did put up a little fight in the end. But still, for a jinchuriki I was expecting a little more," Deidara sighed loudly. "But what can I expect, from a guy from the Sand Village."

"What is that supposed to mean?" His partner questioned.

"You know. Those guys are always so soft. I've never had any respect for anyone from the Sand Village."

"Are you saying that you don't have any respect for me at all, Deidara?" Sasori spat with venom.

"Oh, that's right! I forgot who were from the Sand Village Sasori, my man." Deidara loved seeing the angry demeanor of his partner. It's what made him love his job so much. "But still, you can't create anything with sand. It falls apart, just like the Kazekage did up there." He pointed to the unconscious Gaara, who was wrapped around the tail of a clay owl that Deidara made.

"You still haven't answered my question, Sasori."

"What?" Sasori said with clear irritation in his voice.

"The strongest Jinchuriki. Who do you think it will be?"

"Why does it matter? Aren't you forgetting, this was the only one we were supposed to capture. What makes you think that you can take down another one?"

"Again, my man, I'm just speakin' hypothetically here." Sasori grumbled under his breath. He knew Deidara was going to try and capture another Jinchuriki, whether he liked it or not. So after several seconds, Sasori finally decided to give him an answer.

"I'd say it's probably the Nine-Tails."

"The Nine-Tails jinchuriki, huh?" Deidara reached into his robe until he found a small, jet-black book. He flipped through it a few times until he found what he was looking for.

"It says here that his name is Naruto Uzumaki, from the Hidden Leaf. But it also says that he's only a genin."

"It doesn't matter what their ranks are. The One-Tail is the Kazekage, and look what happened to him." Sasori glanced upward at the owl.

"He _was _the Kazekage, my man. They're going to have to find a new one." Deidara laughed evilly, but Sasori groaned. He hated his partner's antics sometimes.

"Hey, wait a minute here. It says Itachi and Kisame were supposed to catch this guy a couple years ago!"

"And they failed?" Sasori questioned.

"It says that they retreated after a legendary Sannin was found with him. I wonder if it was Orochimaru…."

"Don't be ridiculous. Orochimaru betrayed the Hidden Leaf Village years ago, before he betrayed us."

"Hmph. I'm going to kill that guy one day, Sasori. You just watch me."

"We'll see about that, Deidara. But besides that, we couldn't capture him at that time even if we wanted to."

"Oh, yeah. Didn't Pain say that it would mess up the cycle or something?"

"That's correct. A few of the tailed beasts, the Eight and Nine-Tails in particular, have to be done at the very end."

"Uh-huh. And why is that, my man?"

"The Eight and Nine-Tails happen to have more potent chakra than the rest of the Tailed Beasts. It could destroy the statue if we put them into it first. If we were to determine the most powerful beast by the number of tails, it would be said that the Nine-Tails is the strongest. That's why the Nine-Tails jinchuriki must be the strongest as well."

Deidara thought about this for a second and closed his book. "I'm glad we can finally agree on something, my man. Well, we'll just see how strong he is then." Sasori glared his partner, but before he could argue, a strange plant with a human-like figure inside appeared next to the tree they were walking by.

"Hey, White Zetsu! What's up?" asked Deidara.

"Hello there, Deidara, Sasori. I just wanted to let you know that you've got company following you."

"How close are they?" Sasori asked.

"Stop right there!" The three figures looked behind them to find a shinobi wearing an orange jumpsuit and a Leaf symbol headband. He was also panting heavily from all of the running he was doing. He had blonde, spikey hair with blue eyes and distinctive whisker marks on his cheeks.

"Does that answer your question, Sasori?" Zetsu asked.

"You idiot, why didn't you warn us of this before?"

"Sorry, Sasori. I didn't expect them to be catching up so soon. It appears that this shinobi seems to have a lot of stamina." Deidara took another glance at the shinobi, and smirked.

"Ah, I see where you're going with this Zetsu." He took a few steps towards the shinobi who was still crouched down on one of the tree branches. "Hey kid! What's your name?"

Naruto was unsure about how to answer at first, but quickly replied to him, "Like you'd care."

"Of course I do! You're looking for the Kazekage, aren't you?" Naruto was surprised that the blonde-haired guy would easily give up Gaara like that.

"Yeah, I am! You've seen him?" Naruto narrowed his eyes to the blonde-guy who kept up his smirk.

"Yep, he's up there." Deidara pointed upwards. Naruto looked up and saw a giant owl, just like Neji had said. It looked like it was made up of some sort of white substance. The owl unrolled its tail to reveal an unconscious Gaara lying there.

"GAARA!" Naruto yelled, but there was no response from him. The blue-eyed shinobi glared at the now smiling Akatsuki member.

"Get Gaara down from there, _now._" Naruto growled.

"Sorry. No can do, but maybe if you would tell me your name, I might reconsider."

"What are you doing, Deidara?" Sasori asked, but got no response from his partner.

"Fine! My name is Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki! Now let Gaara go!" Deidara simply smirked in victory.

"I see. So you knew that it was him all along. And all you had to do was confirm it." Sasori said.

"That's right, my man. You're lucky, because now I don't have to go out looking for him. Because he came running to me,"

"I don't know what you bastards are talking about down there, but you'd better get Gaara down from there right now!"

Deidara looked away from his partner and turned to the other blonde shinobi, with the smirk never leaving his face. "Okay, alright then. No need to get antsy now," Using his finger, he drew the ginormous owl down to the ground.

"Now what are you doing, Deidara?" Sasori threatened.

"C'mon Sasori, my man, don't you trust me? And besides, I'm a man of my word too y'know." Sasori narrowed his eyes as he watched the owl land with the Kazekage still on its tail.

"Good, now let him go!" Naruto ordered.

Deidara snickered. "I'm not gonna do that."

"What?!" Naruto waved an angry fist through the air. "You said that if I told you my name, then you would let Gaara go!"

"First off, I said that I would _reconsider _it. Second, I brought him down like you asked, but I never said anything about letting him go."

Naruto growled. "Why you little…"

"You can glare at me all you want," Deidara closed his eyes and crossed his arms, then opening one eye to see him. "Nine-Tails."

Naruto looked at him with surprise, and then anger. "What….. What the hell did you just call me?!"

"You heard me right. I know what you are, Naruto Uzumaki." Deidara looked at him, this time with hunger in his eyes. "And you're mine."

"Yeah! Well we'll just see about that!" Naruto took his fighting stance, ready to rip these guys to shreds after what they did to Gaara.

"Ooh," White Zetsu said as he sunk back into the tree. "This could get interesting."

"Yo, Sasori, my man! Aren't you gonna join me? After all, you were the one who said that the Nine-Tails jinchuriki would be the strongest."

"As much as I would like to do that, I can't. The poison I brought with me this time is lethal, and if we are going to capture this jinchuriki, he needs to be taken alive. But if things get messy, I'll be here to help you out."

"Hmph, whatever. I don't need your help." Deidara proclaimed as he got ready to fight the jinchuriki. He was excited. He hoped that this battle would be even better than the last.

"ALLLLRIGHT! Here I-" Before Naruto was able to attack, he felt a hand grab his shoulder.

"Kak-Kakashi Sensei?" Kakashi gave him his famous closed-eye smiled.

"Yep, that's right. You didn't really think that you could fight members of the Akatsuki without the rest of us, did you?" Naruto looked past Kakashi and saw the angry glares of the others behind him. He sweat dropped and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"No, No! Of course not! That wasn't what I was thinking at all!"

"You baka! What were you thinking just charging through like that?! Do you want to be killed that badly?! Sakura exclaimed.

"B-but, Sakura-chan! They have Gaara down there!"

"I see you brought company! Well that doesn't make things fun." said Deidara.

"Deidara, this isn't good. That ninja with the silver hair is Kakashi of the Sharingan. It's best now that we take the One-Tail and retreat."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, huh? I've heard things about that guy. I suppose your right my man. But what about the Nine-Tails?"

"The Nine-Tails can wait. He wasn't our objective in the first place."

Deidara turned to the large group of shinobi. There were exactly eight of them including Kakashi of the Sharingan and the Nine-Tails. It seemed now that they were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

"Are you sure about that my man? You can kill the rest of them can't you? Why don't you take care of them while I take care of the Nine-Tails."

"Don't get so cocky, Deidara. You're forgetting about our goal here. If you wouldn't have taken so long to get the One-Tail in the first place, then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Woah there, slow down my man. It was you who took forever with that kid wearing the weird make-up. Therefore you're the reason why we're in this mess."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter now. Let's just go already. We've kept the others waiting long enough. And you know how much I hate making people wait."

"Okay, fine. You win, my man. Get onto the owl," Both of them hopped onto the owl, but before they had a chance to fly away, a voice stopped them.

"And where do you think you're going!" Everyone glanced upwards and saw a giant toad with a man standing on its head.

"Chief Toad! Pervy Sage! What are you guys doing here?!" Naruto asked.

"Hey Naruto. Tsunade sent me here just in case you guys need any help. And it looks like you do."

"Forget escaping, Sasori. Let's just take all these goons down. I think we can take them."

"You idiot. Don't you know who that is?!" Deidara looked upward and saw the man standing on the toad. He had long white hair with red marks drawn on his face. It didn't look like someone who Deidara wanted to remember.

"My brain's not ringing a bell here, Sasori. Care to refresh my memory?"

"That's Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin. He was the one who used to work with Orochimaru." That got Deidara's attention quickly. But inside his head he thought, "_**This clown? One of the legendary Sannin?"**_

"Hey, you up there! I heard that you used to work with Orochimaru back in the olden days! Do you know where he is now?"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes at him. "No, I don't know. And I don't care either. Now give us back the Kazekage."

"Huh, well he's no fun," Deidara said to Sasori.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear enough," said Jiraiya who was now annoyed with the Akatsuki member. "Hand us the Kazekage, and I might just let you two live."

Deidara looked over to his partner, and then smirked again. "Alright. I'll let you take back your precious Kazekage,"

Using his hand to control the clay owl, he was about to drop Gaara on the ground until Jiraiya interrupted him.

"And no funny business," Jiraiya opened his eyes to reveal that he had activated Sage Mode. "I'm able to tell the difference between the real Gaara and a clay clone, so don't even bother trying."

Deidara frowned. That ruined his initial plan to make a getaway, but now he had to come up with a new scheme.

"Just forget it, Deidara," Deidara turned to his partner, shocked that he, of all people, would tell him that.

"What are you talking about, Sasori? You're not seriously going to give up the One-Tail to these guys, are you?"

"Listen, I don't like it either. Kakashi the Copycat Ninja, and one of the Legendary Sannin; they are not foolish enough to fall for your tricks."

"What?! I did all of that hard work to get the Kazekage for nothing! Why can't we escape with the owl I made?"

"Because I'll squash you like a bug if you try!" the Chief Toad interrupted.

Deidara looked up annoyed at the toad, and then back at his partner.

"There's no way I'm giving up the One-Tails after everything I've done. And you my man, didn't do squat."

"You're not thinking this through Deidara," claimed Sasori. "You're forgetting about our other problem. We need these Leaf shinobi alive to take care of Orochimaru for us,"

"_**Orochimaru? Sasuke…." **_Naruto clenched his fists with realization. _**"Orochimaru must have been involved with the Akatsuki somehow. But why do they want him dead?"**_

"Even if I were to kill them all while you escape with the One-Tail," Sasori continued. "You wouldn't be able to escape with that giant toad following you."

Deidara grumbled under his breath. "Who cares? I'll just blow them up with my art!" Deidara raised his only hand to reveal a mouth in the palm, chewing some white substance that must have been his clay.

"Don't be a fool, Deidara," Sasori countered. "I know that you used up most of your clay during your fight with the Kazekage. Don't even pretend you still have more left,"

Deidara cursed. He knew that he should've made more, but he didn't expect a run in with the Nine-Tails before they extracted the One-Tail. He should have come more prepared.

Sasori took a deep breath when he finally made Deidara come to his senses. "We must notify Pain that our mission has failed. Let's go, we've kept him waiting long enough."

"Oh yeah! And how are you going to do that huh!" screamed Naruto.

"We've got you completely surrounded. Any kind of escape will be pointless," said Kakashi.

Sasori looked up at the Copycat Ninja with a bored expression.

"Leaf Village shinobi, make no mistake. Just because we are being forced to retreat now, does not mean we have forgotten about our objective." Everyone had their eyes trained on the Akatsuki member, who only looked like an old man who happened to have a wooden tail that wagged. But they knew what the Akatsuki were capable of, so they stayed alert and on their toes.

"We will come back for the Kazekage one day, and the Nine-Tails as well. And when that happens, no one will be able to stop us." Sasori made a few hand signs under his cloak and afterwards pressed his hand firmly onto the ground. The earth began to rumble and shake, causing everyone to panic.

"Naruto, everyone, stay back!" Kakashi said. The ground continued to shake causing the ninja to almost lose their balance in the trees. Pretty soon the rumbling stopped. Gaara was already in the arms of Jiraiya the Sannin, but the Akatsuki members and the giant owl were gone.

"They, they vanished!" Sakura said.

Naruto grunted in response. "Not on my watch. I'm gonna go find those bastards-"

Kakashi put a hand on his student's shoulder to restrain him once more. "Naruto, you need to forget about them for right now. I know what they did to Gaara wasn't right, but you can't go after them just for the sake of revenge."

Revenge. That word really hit home for Naruto. Revenge was the reason Sasuke left the village. Revenge was the reason he went to go work with that snake Orochimaru, just to obtain the power to kill his older brother. Revenge was the reason why his best friend tried tokill _him_, and break the bonds they once shared together. Naruto hated revenge.

Naruto lowered his head in shame and tuned out the rest of the world. After a few moments of thinking about his _ex-_best friend who turned traitor, Naruto finally decided to put him in the back of his mind for now and go check on Gaara.

"It seems that this kid fought one hell of a battle," stated Jiraiya as he began examining Gaara for injuries. "It may take a while for him to regain consciousness. He should be fine otherwise. But just in case I say we take him to the Leaf Village so that Tsunade can thoroughly evaluate him."

"Alright, sounds like a plan. I'm going to summon Pakkun and have him deliver a message to the Sand Village. Their Kazekage is officially safe."

Everyone sighed in relief and stared at the unconscious Gaara, maybe hoping that he might wake up at that very moment.

Something strange caught Naruto's eye. He walked over to the exact spot where the Akatsuki members once were. There was a small black journal sitting there, face down, and opened on one of the pages. He wondered what it was.

"Hey guys! I found somethin' over here!"

Everyone looked where Naruto was, and saw what he was pointing to. But before he had a chance to grab the book, Jiraiya stopped him.

"Don't pick that up, Naruto," Jiraiya said with caution in his voice. "It could be a trap. How about I take a look at it instead."

Naruto scoffed and folded his arms. "Whatever you say, Pervy Sage."

Jiraiya walked over to where Naruto was at. He picked up the book carefully, and read the page the small book had landed on. But as soon as he did, his face paled.

"Pervy Sage, what is it? Is it a trap?" Naruto asked. After sending Pakkun on his way to the Sand Village, Kakashi made his way over to where Jiraiya and Naruto were. Everyone else was still huddled around Gaara, but they were also interested in the small black book that Naruto had found. Curious to see what was going on; Kakashi stood behind Jiraiya and also read the page. When he did, he instantly became nervous as well.

"That's it!" Naruto proclaimed and snatched the book out of Jiraiya hands. He ignored the protests of both his sensei and started to read the page. His mouth dropped and his eyes widened. Because on the page was a picture of him, including a bunch of information that nobody except himself should know. It had his birthdate, his age, where he was from, his shinobi rank; it had a list of people whom he had associated with, which was extraordinarily huge. But the section of where his family was supposed to be listed was completely blank, which saddened and angered him at the same time. On the page to the right of his biography was his Tailed Beast. It also angered him that they had information on the Nine-Tails inside of him too. It mostly talked about the attack it had made on the Leaf Village, and how it killed the Fourth Hokage and thousands of other people as well. Naruto wasn't sure how to react to this. Should he be angry, creeped out, or curious? At the moment, he just felt confused.

"This, th-this is…"

"What is it Naruto?" Sakura asked curiously. "What does it say?"

Naruto took a shaky breath and tried to speak again.

"This is me."

"Now, Naruto," said Jiraiya as he made an effort to calm his student. "I know how you must be feeling right now. But-"

"Wh-who are these people?" asked Naruto as he flipped through the pages.

"What are you saying Naruto?" asked Lee.

"Yeah Naruto, you're not making much sense here y'know?" claimed Tenten.

Naruto ignored them and continued to flip through the pages. He stopped at a random page and found a familiar looking face. It was Gaara and his One-Tailed Beast.

"What is this?!" Naruto demanded. He narrowed his eyes at Jiraiya and Kakashi, waiting for answers.

"Naruto," Kakashi said calmly. "Tell us what you see in that book,"

"It's Gaara and I," Naruto wrinkled his face in confusion. "And our tailed-beasts too."

"This isn't good," said Jiraiya. "The Akatsuki are finally getting serious."

"So these people then," said Naruto as he began to flip through the pages again. He counted exactly nine people who had bio on them along with the tailed-beasts. "They're just like Gaara and I?"

"Maybe if you gave us the book Naruto," said Kakashi, "then we would know what you're talking about."

Reluctantly, Naruto handed the book over to Kakashi. Kakashi flipped through the pages like a pro, just like he does when he reads his Icha Icha Paradise novels.

"Hmm… Yes, these people are jinchuriki just like you and Gaara."

"Why do they have so much information about us? In fact, what do they want with us anyway?"

"It's more complicated than that, Naruto," Jiraiya said. "The Akatsuki don't want you, they want what's inside of you."

"Oh…" Naruto said as he tried to process everything that was going on. "They want the Nine-Tails that's sealed inside me?"

Jiraiya nodded sadly. "Yes,"

"If I give it to them, will they leave me alone?"

Kakashi let out an exasperated sigh. "No Naruto, you can't do that."

"Why not?!" Naruto demanded. "I didn't ask for it to be sealed inside of me in the first place! If they want it, they can have it. I want nothing to do with the thing."

"Naruto," Jiraiya tried to explain. "If they take the Nine-Tails out of you, then they take your life as well."

Naruto was taken aback. "W-what?"

"What the word "jinchuriki" means, is the power of human sacrifice. When the Nine-Tails was sealed inside of you, that made you its jinchuriki. If you die, then it dies as well. It also means that you cannot live without your tailed-beast."

"…I see." Naruto said disappointingly. "That means I'm a jinchuriki forever, huh? Guess I'm going to have to live with the big furball." He chuckled.

"Why do you think they left this here, Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked.

"I'm not sure," Jiraiya admitted. "They could have purposefully done it to make us fear them, which I highly doubt. Or, one of them could have been stupid enough to drop it before they left. I bet it was that blonde one. He really got on my nerves,"

"Well, let's just figure it out once we get back to the Hidden Leaf. I'm sure that Tsunade will-"

"Hey wait!" Naruto interrupted. "Does that mean there are more people just like Gaara and I?"

"Well, yes," said Kakashi. "I thought we already established that."

"Then what will happen to them?"

Kakashi thought about it for a moment. "I honestly don't know, Naruto. They're just gonna have to defend for themselves."

"We can't do that! I mean, we can't let that happen. They're jinchuriki just like us! We have to help them somehow..."

"That's definitely out of the question Naruto," Kakashi said. "The rest of the jinchuriki are not allied with the leaf. In fact, they are from the other three great nations that don't get along with us at all."

Naruto clenched his fist and waved it in front of him. "It doesn't matter where they're from! We can't let them get captured by the Akatsuki!"

Before Kakashi could reply, Jiraiya cut into the conversation. "This conversation can wait until we get back to the Leaf Village. The Kazekage needs to see Tsunade so that he can recover faster and return to the Sand Village. Everyone is waiting for him there,"

"Oh, right, Gaara." Naruto jumped over to where Gaara and the others were. He was still unconscious, but very much alive. He draped Gaara's limp arm around his shoulders and picked him up.

"Let's get back to the Hidden Leaf Village, everyone! This mission was a success!" He pumped and fist in the air and began to celebrate. However, after twenty minutes of carrying Gaara, he realized that his sand gourd weighed a ton. He had no idea how a guy as short as Gaara could carry something that weighed so much. Naruto ended up complaining the entire way. But still, he was happy that Gaara was alive, and didn't get his beast taken from him by the Akatsuki. The only thing that Naruto cared about was that his friend, was safe.

* * *

_In the Akatsuki hideout_

"So the mission was a failure..." said a holographic man with swirling purple eyes.

"Don't look at me," said Deidara. "It was all Sasori's idea. And I put a lot of effort in getting the One-Tail too…"

"You were greedy, Deidara," claimed Sasori. "You wanted to capture the Nine-Tails too badly, and that's what lead to our unfortunate outcome."

"Yeah but if you listened to me then we would have had him!"

"That's enough." The purple eyed man's voice echoed throughout the cave. "Indeed, I am disappointed in the both of you. This does mess up our plans,"

"Never rely on these two to complete a simple task," said another holographic man with a large sword strapped to his back. "Heck, I wouldn't even allow them to do my laundry."

"Oh shut your mouth, Gill-Face!" Deidara pointed an accusing finger to the swordsman. "I know you were the one who was supposed to capture the Nine-Tails before! But I'm not seeing him anywhere, am I?"

The swordsman grunted in response.

"We were in no need to retrieve him at that time," said the holographic Akatsuki member standing next to the swordsman. He had bright red eyes that represented none other than the Sharingan. "It was a pointless mission to begin with. And Deidara, Sasori's words about you don't surprise me. You were consumed by greed and confidence, and this is what it resulted into."

Deidara stayed silent after that. He truthfully hated Itachi with all his heart, because everything he said was always true. Every move he made was always the right one. It irritated Deidara till no end.

"I have to agree with Itachi, Deidara," said the purple eyed man. "In the future, don't do anything other than what I ask you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Hn," was all Deidara could say.

"From now on," the leader announced, "I will be the one who will be capturing the Nine-Tails. Since the One-Tail will be heavily guarded after this incident, we shall save him for last as well. Any objections? Good. All of you are dismissed." With that, all of the holograms disappeared, leaving Sasori and Deidara alone in the cave.

"Hey Sasori?"

"What is it Deidara?"

"Have you seen my journal?"

* * *

Gaara felt dizzy as he tried to open his eyes. He noticed that he was in a bright-lit room, and after further inspection, he confirmed that he was in the hospital. This was strange for Gaara because he's never had to go to the hospital. Sure he's been in one (where he almost killed Rock Lee during the time he had lost his mind), but he's never been _treated _in one before. He tried to remember what happened. He was fighting a member of the Akatsuki above the Hidden Sand Village, and then… Did he lose? And if he did, then shouldn't he be dead right now? Surely the Akatsuki must have tried to take him somewhere. But if so, then what was he doing here?

"Gaara!"

Gaara was startled when a pair of arms grabbed him out of nowhere and started to hug him. This was also strange. No one has ever tried to hug him before either. Wait a minute, was a hug supposed to feel like suffocation? He thought hugs were supposed to be actions of comfort, but instead it felt like a death technique that an enemy would use. Gaara decided that he didn't like hugs.

"Um, Temari?" a new voice spoke. "I think your squeezing him too hard."

Temari pulled away from Gaara and noticed that his face was paler than usual. So it was Temari who had tried to kill him. He thought for sure that it was the Akatsuki. How could his sister do such a thing?

"Oh, sorry Gaara," his sister apologized. "I'm just glad you're okay. You really had everyone worried,"

"Wh-where am I?" he asked.

"You're in Konoha's hospital," said a pink-haired girl whose name he believed was Sakura Haruno. "You've been unconscious for a couple days, but Lady Tsunade and I treated all of your injuries. You heal pretty fast, so you can go home anytime you want now."

"You really had us worried there," a blonde teenager stepped forward so that he was next to Gaara's bed. "It's a good thing we found you in time!" he said cheerfully.

Gaara recognized that voice, and those whisker marks too. "Naruto?"

Naruto smiled with pride and placed hands on his hips. "Yep, that's right!"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either," Temari admitted. "He's even taller than me now,"

Naruto was grinning ear to ear now. "I know, in fact I'm the tallest person in this room!"

"Not quite," said an older voice. The silver-haired man walked up to Naruto and placed a hand on his shoulder. When Naruto turned around to see who it was, he instantly became depressed and hung his head to show it.

"Oh, right. I completely forgot about you, Kakashi sensei."

Kakashi laughed and took his hand off his poor student's shoulder. "How are you feeling, Gaara? You know, a lot of people seem to care about you."

Gaara took a look around the room. There was Temari, Team Seven and Team Guy. But he noticed that someone important to him was missing.

"Where is Kankuro?" There was an immediate reaction from Temari, and everyone else had sorrowful looks on their faces.

When no one answered for a few moments, Gaara said to Temari "Seeing that you are here, and he is not, I assume something must have happened. I'm now prepared for the worst, so you can tell me."

Temari swallowed. "When the Akatsuki took you away, Kankuro chased them down to stop them on his own. When he confronted them, one of the Akatsuki members injected a lethal poison into him somehow. He had to be taken immediately back to the Sand Village,"

"And then what?" asked Gaara.

Temari looked down and tried to keep her composure. "For the next couple of days, he was in absolute agony. He wouldn't stop screaming. I, I really thought he was gonna die. But thankfully Sakura came along and created an antidote for it. After that the pain he had seemed to go away. Then when we found out about you, Kankuro wanted to come with me here, but of course I didn't let him. I think that he's okay now." When she finished her speech, Temari gave a grateful smile to Sakura, who instantly smiled back.

"I see," said Gaara. "I'm glad that he's alright. What about the village?"

Temari smiled at her brother's concern. "Everyone's fine. They're just waiting for their Kazekage to come home. I'm here to personally escort you back."

Gaara smiled also. "That's good to hear." Then he turned to face Naruto. "So, were you the one who saved me then?"

Naruto looked at Gaara before smiling sheepishly while instinctively rubbing the back of his head. "Well, it wasn't just me. It was everyone here," Gaara looked at everyone around the room. Besides Temari, the rest of them were all Leaf shinobi who were smiling at him. Gaara couldn't resist the urge to give a small smile back.

"We care about you, Gaara. You're the new Kazekage now, after all."

Gaara suddenly bowed his head, which confused Naruto. "I thank you, Naruto Uzumaki, for everything you have done for me."

Naruto smiled a bit. "No problem, Gaara."

"So, Lord Kazekage," Kakashi began to say, "this Akatsuki member you fought…How good was he?"

Gaara told the story of the fight he had with Deidara. He remembered the explosive clay the guy made with his own hands, and it was able to seep through his sand defense.

"So they're more trouble than we thought," Kakashi said. "They must have recruited S-rank missing nin, all throughout every single hidden village."

"But what will they do now that they don't have Gaara?" asked Naruto.

"Well, it's likely that Gaara will be placed under heavy protection from now on. The Hidden Sand Village will definitely won't let the Akatsuki take him for a second time."

"That's right," Temari said. "Even if we need to gather every single shinobi we can to surround the village. We'll also have our ANBU black ops guard Gaara at all times. I'll be damned if I let them capture my brother again."

Gaara processed everything Temari had said. He wasn't sure if he was fond of being protected twenty-four seven. They couldn't just cage him up like an animal. No, not like what his father used to do with him.

"Are you sure that's really necessary, Temari?" Gaara asked.

Temari placed a firm hand on her brother's shoulder. "Of course, Gaara. The council's not going to let you face the Akatsuki alone this time. The whole village is gonna have your back."

Great, so not only will he be guarded at all times, but he'll be risking the village's safety as well. As Kazekage, he always had to put the village and the people first. But if he stayed there, then…..

"Kakashi sensei, if Gaara's gonna be protected by the Sand Village, then what about the others?" Naruto asked.

"…Others?"

"Yeah, the other jinchuriki. What's gonna happen to them when the Akatsuki hunt them down?"

"_**There are more jinchuriki other than Naruto and I?" **_Gaara thought.

Kakashi sighed deeply. "Naruto, didn't we go over this already? There's simply nothing we can do about it."

With a disbelieving look on his face, Naruto folded his arms. "I still think that we should help them somehow. Or warn them at least,"

"I'm sure most of the villages are aware of this issue just like we are, Naruto. There's nothing to worry about."

Naruto suddenly slammed his fist on the table next to Gaara. Everyone stopped talking to each other and was startled by Naruto's reaction.

"What do you mean there's nothing to worry about?! The Akatsuki are trying to kidnap them and extract their tailed beasts!" Naruto took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Just like they were going to do to Gaara."

Everyone was listening closely to the conversation now, especially Gaara. He wanted to know what Naruto Uzumaki was talking about.

"There are only nine jinchuriki in the world. Two of them include me and Gaara. That means there are only seven more of us out there! Maybe if we can work with each other, then we'll have a better chance at standing up to the Akatsuki!"

The wheels in Gaara's brain started to turn, but everyone else just sat there and looked confused.

"Look, Naruto," Kakashi said as he tried to reason with his stubborn student. "I know where you're coming from. If this was under different circumstances, then maybe we could help them out…"

Naruto looked his sensei in the eye as he continued. "However, like I said before. The rest of the jinchuriki are in villages that don't get along well with the Hidden Leaf. Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Iwagakure, have all fought wars against us in the past. They were bloody, gruesome wars…" Kakashi trailed off as he remembered the incident with Obito and Rin. "And just because we aren't fighting anymore, doesn't mean the tension we had between them is gone. Shinobi from the Hidden Leaf don't visit those villages very often because they're afraid of getting attacked. And the same goes for them as well. If Konoha were to ever contact one of those villages for help, they most likely wouldn't give it to us," Kakashi suddenly pointed to Naruto's headband. "If you ever walked into one of those villages wearing that, someone might be hiding just waiting to attack you. Basically, it works like this. They don't trust us, and we don't trust them. But we don't want another war to break out, and neither do they. So for the sake of that, we sign a 'peace' treaty, to make sure it won't happen again. The only stable alliance we have is with the Sand Village, and they're the only hidden village in one of the five great nations that we can trust at this point. Now do you get what I'm saying, Naruto?"

"Yeah…" Naruto said and looked away from Kakashi. "What you're saying is that, they don't want our help. And even if we do offer it to them, they probably still wouldn't trust us…"

"You finally understand."

Naruto suddenly clenched his fists tightly. "When I become Hokage, I'm gonna change that! I'm gonna make sure that there is true peace in this world, one that's not signed on a stupid piece of paper. No, I want to make sure that there's real peace within the five great nations. Where we're able to trust and help each other without feeling nervous and uncomfortable. Just like Konoha and Suna. We may have had a rocky start, but we overcame that. And now we help each other without hesitation. So when I become Hokage, that's what I'm gonna do. I will find true peace in this world."

After Naruto's speech, everyone in the room had stunned looks on their faces. The most shocked person was Gaara. Even though he was already named Kazekage, he still couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in himself. He wanted the desire to change the world just like Naruto. One day, he vowed to become more like him.

Kakashi got over his shock and coughed a bit. "Right, well, um…. We're going to report to the Hokage that you're alive and well, Gaara. I hope you have a good stay in Konoha," he waved at Gaara and Temari before walking out the door. Everyone told Gaara goodbye and wished him well before following Kakashi.

"Make sure you catch me before ya leave!" said Naruto before exiting out the door with the rest.

When everyone left, Temari said, "I'm gonna go sign you out Gaara. I know how much you hate hospitals. I'll be back." When she left, Gaara finally had some time to think to himself.

When the Sand Village asked him to be Kazekage, he was actually quite shocked. First of all, he was young, and some will say that he didn't have enough experience as a shinobi to qualify for such an honor. He was also surprised that they would nominate him even though they knew what he was. He remembered when they tried to kill him several times. He remembered the cold and fearful stares. He was shunned and left to rot by loneliness. He couldn't sleep at night, as he would wake up the next day to find blood covered on his hands and clothes. Eventually, he became the monster that people presumed him to be. He became the One-Tailed Sand Spirit. He also thought that nothing and no one could ever stop him from the walking path he was going on. But then he met Naruto Uzumaki. Not only did he stop him from destroying the Leaf, but he also stopped him from becoming a full-fledged demon. He told Gaara that he wasn't alone, which is what Gaara had always believed. It turned out that Naruto was just like him. He had a demon inside him, and people would treat him like one too. And yet, he turned out to be happy and cheerful, while Gaara ended up being the exact opposite. Naruto told him that once he found people who he wanted to protect, he no longer felt alone. Gaara asked himself if he had anyone like that, people that he wanted to protect. He quickly realized that he had Temari and Kankuro, and that he wasn't truly alone after all. He just needed help from someone in order to see it. After his battle with Naruto, Gaara changed drastically after that. He started to see the world in a whole new light. Now he had a whole village to protect, which was asking quite a lot for him, but he was up for the challenge.

He thought of what Temari had said before. All of his people would be protecting him, but it should be the other way around. The last thing he wanted to do was to put the village in danger. It was his role as Kazekage to make sure that didn't happen. It was obvious that the Akatsuki would be coming for him eventually, and he thought of what the consequences might be if he went back. He knew that they powerful enough to destroy the Hidden Sand.

Gaara started thinking again. Naruto's words about the other jinchuriki popped into his mind. He was actually happy to know that there were more people like him and Naruto out there in the world. But there wouldn't be if no one went to help them…

An idea popped into Gaara's mind. Or rather, a made-up plan. It was genius. It was a way to protect everyone he cared about without putting them in danger. He would also be saving several other people just like him and Naruto.

But, it was also risky. He didn't know if anyone would approve of it. However, since he was the Kazekage now, he would have a little more influence on more people than he used to.

Out of anxiety, Gaara got up from the hospital bed and strapped on his shoes. Then he walked over to where his sand gourd was and put it on his back.

The hospital door opened suddenly, revealing Temari standing there. "Can't wait to go home already? Can't say I blame ya, everyone is waiting for you th-"

"Temari," Gaara interrupted. "I need you to do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"I need you to send a message to the Hidden Sand. Tell them to bring all of the councilor members here to the Hidden Leaf,"

"Wh-what?" Temari stuttered.

"Don't waste time, do it now."

"But Gaara!"

"I've come up with a plan, but it needs to be discussed with council of the Leaf and Sand villages. I'm going to arrange an appointment with the Hokage right now."

"You want to bring the entire council here?! Is it really that important?"

Gaara took a deep breath. "Yes, it is. Now go Temari, and please do what I asked you." Gaara made his way out of the room before Temari did, because she was still standing there in shock.

Gaara had a genius, risky, and yet crazy plan. He was going to create a fake criminal organization.


	2. Discussing the Plan

**CHAPTER 2**

Gaara calmly strode into the Hokage building. He didn't know how this would turn out, but he had to give it a try. It had been three days since he was discharged from the hospital, and the council of the Suna was expected to be here by now. When Gaara asked for an arranged meeting between the two councils, Tsunade was just as confused as Temari was. Regardless, she agreed to set up the meeting because it specifically involved Naruto.

When Gaara stepped into the meeting room, the councils of both Suna and Konoha were already there waiting for him. The Suna council seemed very happy that he was okay.

"Lord Kazekage!" Baki stood up from his chair and stood in front of Gaara to bow to him. "Thank goodness you're alright,"

"Yes, I am."

"Tell us why you have summoned us here, Tsunade," said Danzo in his usual dark voice.

At the end of the large table, Tsunade folded her arms. "This was Lord Kazekage's idea. He wishes to discuss an important matter with both councils of the Hidden Leaf and Sand. The only thing I did was help to arrange the meeting."

All of the council members turned their attention to Gaara. He couldn't help but to feel just a little uncomfortable when they stared at him like that. However he ignored the feeling of insecurity and sat at the end of the table opposing Tsunade.

Gaara interlocked his hands and laid his elbows on the table. "Before I begin pressing the issue, I wish to thank the council of Suna, for taking this long journey to be here; as well as the council of the Leaf, for allowing me to discuss with you all."

"Yeah, yeah, just get on with it," Danzo said rudely.

Gaara coughed before speaking. "I wish to talk about the Akatsuki."

This got everyone's attention, most them with concerned looks on their faces, with the exception of Danzo whose expression was ice cold.

"Ah, yes, the Akatsuki." said Koharu of the Leaf. "They are a big problem indeed."

"What should we do about them?" asked a random council member of the Sand.

"The answer is quite simple, really." Everyone turned their attention to Danzo, who had a sinister smile on his face. "It's now very clear what the Akatsuki are after. They want the tailed beasts in which both of our villages sacrificed so much for to obtain. Why should we give them they want? Just like any other valuable weapon, we must keep ours _locked up_, and hidden away."

"Weapons?" questioned Tsunade.

"Well, I'm referring to the Nine-Tails that we have of course. And also their One-Tail."

Tsunade lost it at that moment. She got up from her chair grabbed Danzo, who happened to be sitting right next to her, and yelled right at his face. "How many times must you learn Danzo?! Naruto is not a weapon! He is a loyal shinobi of Hidden Leaf! How dare you suggest that we lock him up in some prison!"

"Lady Tsunade! Unhand Danzo this instant!" demanded Koharu. "You're embarrassing us in front of the foreign council!"

"I don't care." Tsunade growled as she angrily unhanded Danzo and sat down. "I don't care how many times you suggest it; we are not locking Naruto up just because of what he has inside of him."

Danzo, who seemed very unfazed by Tsunade's sudden outburst, used his bandaged arm to remove the wrinkles from his robe. "I am only suggesting what is best for our villages."

Before Tsunade had the chance to yell at him again, Gaara interjected. "So, are you saying that I too am a weapon, and that I should be treated as such?"

"Of course not, Lord Kazekage!" Baki started to say. "You're-"

Gaara raised a hand for him to stop. "I want Danzo to answer me. He's the one who brought it up."

Danzo leaned back in his chair with a grim expression on his face. "You honestly think that you should be granted the freedom to roam as you please after what happened? It doesn't matter how you put it; you have something valuable and precious hidden away inside you. The Akatsuki will come for you again to take that precious gift away. And once they do, what will happen to your village? They sacrificed so much to obtain that gift and make it their own. Without your power, who will be the one to protect them from the other villages? Tell me what they can do, Lord Kazekage, without that power you possess."

A few silent moments hung in the air before Gaara answered. "You think what I have, is valuable and precious? Was my terrible past life, worth all of this power? Should I be thankful for this 'gift' that was given to me against my will? What I possess is neither valuable nor precious. It is dangerous and deadly. Within me is a demon waiting patiently to destroy everything and kill everyone. People used to fear me, and I used to fear myself. A weapon is something you can control. You cannot control the demon inside me. But I can control myself, and so I use that to my advantage instead. Now do you see the difference between a weapon, and a jinchuriki like myself?"

Danzo didn't give a reaction to Gaara's speech, but he thought it was best not to argue. "All I am saying is that your village is doomed without you. If you don't agree with my suggestion Lord Kazekage, then what are your thoughts? How do you plan to protect yourself and your village at once?"

Baki decided to intervene. "We will protect Lord Gaara with our lives. The shinobi of the Sand are no pushovers-if they want Gaara, then they'll have to get through us first."

Danzo laughed heartily. "That doesn't solve your problem! The Akatsuki are no pushovers either. You will be putting your village in the hands of destruction! Many lives will be lost just for the sake of one person. Is that what you wish to happen?"

Baki gulped. "It doesn't matter. We will protect Lord Gaara no matter what. He is our leader."

"There is no leader if there isn't a village left."

"That's it!" Tsunade stood up abruptly and yelled at Danzo. "I've had it with you!"

"Sit down Tsunade!" Koharu demanded.

It all went downhill from there. Tsunade continued to yell at Danzo while Koharu and Homura tried to restrain her. Both councils started arguing about how to deal with the Akatsuki. It eventually became absolute chaos, but after ten minutes of bickering Gaara finally decided to stop it.

"Enough, everyone," he didn't yell, but the sound of Gaara's intimidating voice was enough to get their attention. "I did not arrange this meeting to create mayhem between our villages. So please calm yourselves down."

Tsunade finally stopped yelling and sat down. Everyone suddenly stopped arguing and decided to listen to what Gaara had to say. Maybe he did have a knack for being Kazekage after all.

"I want to discuss a plan I created to stop the Akatsuki. I've worked out most of the details myself. All I need now is to get it approved by both of our nations. That's the real reason why I invited both councils of Suna and Konoha here today."

"This should be interesting," said Danzo. "Well, tell us about your big plan."

"I will if you stop interrupting me," Gaara shot at him.

Danzo said, "I'm all ears."

"Alright, I shall begin talking then," Gaara made sure everyone's attention was on him before he began speaking.

"I'm sure you're all aware that the Akatsuki came to retrieve me, and succeeded. I've come to realize that they are an organization which is truly one to be feared. Not only did they infiltrate the village without being detected, but only one of them chose to fight me, and won. That was not an easy thing to accomplish, and anyone who knows me would agree. It was also hard to win when I had to protect the village and myself at the same time. When he dropped a bomb on the village, I had to spend the rest of my chakra to catch it before it hit the ground and destroyed everything. After that, he managed to defeat me easily. Never will I underestimate him, or any members of the Akatsuki again. When I lost that battle, I knew I wouldn't be able to defeat them on my own. That is what gave me this idea. The Leaf Village shinobi who came to retrieve me found a book with a lot of information in it. That book happened to list all of the jinchuriki that are out there in the world. It's obvious that they plan to capture them for their tailed-beasts, although I'm not sure why. But whatever their plan is, I'm going to stop them from accomplishing it. I'm going to create an organization to find the rest of the jinchuriki. It will start with Naruto and I, and we'll be travelling to other hidden villages to find and recruit the rest of them. We'll be in disguise pretending to be S-ranked criminals, just like the Akatsuki. But in reality we'll be saving the jinchuriki from their fate of being captured, like I was. I know to some of you I might sound crazy, perhaps even insane. However, this is the only way to save my village from destruction, and to save myself from being captured again. That is my plan."

For several minutes, no one said anything. But Tsunade was the first one to break the silence.

"Wow, that is one hell of a plan you've come up with. It may be the craziest one I've ever heard of."

"If anyone else has any questions," said Gaara, "I'd be happy to answer them." Immediately, everyone's hand shot up.

"Since you are my friend and former sensei, Baki, I'll let you speak first."

"Lord Kazekage, I don't mean to offend you, but how could you think about doing something so reckless! Travelling around the world aimlessly searching for strangers you don't even know, will simply give the Akatsuki the advantage! They will eventually find out about you!"

"Baki, I appreciate your concern for me. However, believe it or not, this has nothing to do with the village. This is a problem that I must bear by myself. If I stay in the village, then it is bound to be destroyed. Thousands of lives will be lost just for my sake. That is the last thing I want to happen. And as for the Akatsuki, I assure you they won't find out about me. Like I said before, we'll be in disguise. They will only see us as another criminal organization, and nothing else."

"But you're our Kazekage! Who's going to be in charge when you're gone?"

"I've thought about that, and I've decided to leave my responsibilities to my sister Temari, and my brother Kankuro, while I'm away."

Not knowing what else to say, Baki moved his gaze to the table. "I… I can't help it. It's ludicrous,"

"Lord Gaara, if we do agree with this plan, then when will you be leaving?" asked a councilor of the Sand.

"As soon as possible; once this plan gets approved of, we need to move as fast as we can to find the other jinchuriki. The Akatsuki already have a head start." Danzo found himself laughing, and everyone's gaze turned to him.

"Is there something funny?" asked an annoyed Gaara.

Danzo stopped laughing and said, "My plan greatly opposes yours. I've should have figured. People like you always want to get away from their villages. They want to escape the hatred in other people's eyes and go to a new place where no one knows who they are."

"If you have something to ask, then do it before you irritate me further," Gaara told him.

Danzo chuckled again. "Alright; say a member of the Akatsuki finds out who you are; since there is no doubt in my mind that they have spies planted everywhere. They send people to come and capture you, and no one is there to protect their precious Kazekage. Tell me, what would you do then?"

Gaara kept his calm. "I won't let that happen. I'd rather risk myself than risk my village and comrades. And I won't be alone; Naruto Uzumaki will accompany me."

"So you actually expect us to entrust you with our jinchuriki as well? You must be mad, Lord Kazekage."

"It will be just Naruto and I at first, but we'll be unstoppable once we find the other jinchuriki. I can promise you that much,"

"And what makes you think the other villages will allow you to take their most prized possessions? The first Hokage purposefully distributed all of the nine tailed beasts to the rest of the great nations in order to balance power. Do you think they'll simply give them away? You're going to create an international incident, and that will lead to another Great War. I'm sure you're well aware; Konohagakure is not on the best terms with Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Kirigakure at the moment. Once they find out who Naruto is, they will try to kidnap him, and force him to serve under their military. This will lead to an imbalance of power, and Konoha will be as good as gone if that happens."

Gaara sighed deeply. If he wanted this plan to get approved of, he was going to have to persuade most of the Konoha council that it would work. That meant that he would have to win the argument against Danzo.

"Encountering the Akatsuki for the first time taught me a lot about them. First of all, they work in pairs. I don't think they are that big of an organization if they only brought two people to retrieve me. Therefore, if Naruto and I were to fight them together, then we would have a better chance at winning. But if we fight them separately, then they would overwhelm us. They must have the assumption that jinchuriki fight for themselves, live for themselves, and only protect themselves. That used to be my way of thinking, because the cursed life of a jinchuriki is lonely and unbearable. However, if they see that there are more people like them in this cursed world, like I did, then they will realize that they are not alone. We can fight with each other, live for each other, and protect each other. I used think that being all alone was the thing that made me stronger. But I was wrong, and I needed help to see that."

"As for causing an international incident, I promise that won't happen. I'm going to ask for all of the Kage's permission beforehand. The Sand Village happens to be on better terms with the rest of the hidden villages, so I won't tell them about Naruto unless I find it necessary. I'll admit, if they find out that Konoha has agreed to this, then they it might change minds about letting their jinchuriki join us,"

"And if that happens?" Danzo asked curiously.

"Then I'll just have to take drastic measures." Gaara stated.

Danzo noticed that Gaara had proven his point well, and that the other two councils seemed impressed by his speech. Danzo knew that he was losing. He could have made it worse if he continued his argument.

"I have no further questions at the moment," Danzo said. "But I will let you know when I do." Gaara nodded and waited for some else to speak.

"_**It may be a risky plan," **_thought Homura. _**"But it will take care of our demon problem. The village would be a lot safer if the Nine-Tails was gone; taken by the Akatsuki or not."**_

"I agree one-hundred percent with Lord Gaara," Homura said.

"As do I," said his counterpart, Koharu. "He seems very committed to his plan, so I trust him enough to carry it through. You have my vote."

"Hold on a minute," Tsunade interjected. "You can't be serious, can you?"

"Yes, we are," said Homura.

"Did you find any flaws with my plan?" Gaara asked.

Tsunade turned to Gaara with a serious look on her face. "Flaws? There are all kinds of flaws! The Akatsuki won't stop until they find you! And once they do, you won't have anyone there to protect you! And to bring Naruto into this," Tsunade took a deep breath and sighed. "This whole plan is just insane!"

"Tsuande-" Homura began to say.

"Don't 'Tsunade' me! I know the only reason you two agreed to this is because you want Naruto gone!"

"I understand you worry about Naruto's well-being," said Gaara. "But I must tell you, he's the one who inspired me to create this plan in the first place."

Tsunade and the entire Konoha council had confused looks on their faces as he continued. "Naruto has the desire to protect the people who are like him in this world, maybe even more than I do. He's the one who wants to find the other jinchuriki to make sure they are safe. Even though he's never met them, he already feels like he understands them."

"You should have more faith in Naruto, Lady Tsunade. His powers are not to be underestimated; and you know how he feels when he is underestimated. If you're still not convinced, I promise you this: I swear to protect Naruto with my own life."

Tsunade was left speechless. She had no idea what to say. Maybe she's been a little over-protective of Naruto lately. But she knew that if anything were to happen to him, then she would be left devastated; and maybe that's the thing she feared most.

Gaara noticed that she hadn't said anything. "Are there anymore questions that need to be answered?" No one said anything. Baki stood up after a few minutes of silence had passed.

"The Sand Village will go first. All in favor of Lord Gaara's plan?"

Seven people including Baki had their hand raised. Only four people did not.

Baki wore a rare smile as he looked over at Gaara. "We have the upmost faith in you, Lord Gaara. Even though some of us are concerned about our Kazekage being gone; I have no doubt myself that your plan will succeed."

"Thank you, Baki. I appreciate that." Gaara said. Baki sat down while Koharu and Homura stood up.

"The Konoha council shall go next. All in favor?"

Five people including Koharu and Homura had their hands raised. And six people including Danzo did not. Koharu noticed that Tsunade did not raise her hand.

"Anyone object?" Danzo and four more people raised their hands. Tsunade didn't do anything. She looked deep in thought as she tried to make a decision.

"You must vote, Lady Tsunade." stated Koharu. Tsunade sighed deeply as she slowly raised her hand and stood up.

"It's rare that I say this," started Danzo, "but you have made an excellent choice Tsunade. We cannot risk having our weapon-"

"I support Lord Kazekage's plan." Tsunade interrupted. Danzo looked shocked for a moment, but his cold expression quickly returned.

"Tsunade, the Nine-Tails will be captured if we let him go!"

"No, he won't. I believe in Naruto. And if Lord Kazekage thinks his plan will work, then I as the Fifth Hokage, have no choice but to believe in him too." Tsunade turned her attention to Gaara. "Lord Kazekage, after the conclusion of this meeting, you will go inform Naruto immediately,"

"I understand," Gaara said. "I will notify Temari as well."

"Good, you will leave tomorrow then. Does anyone else have any thoughts to share?" Danzo began to stand up, but Tsunade quickly pointed a finger at him. "Except you." she declared firmly. Danzo grumbled in anger as he sat back down.

"Alright then. Lord Kazekage, your plan has been ratified."


	3. Taking Off

**(A/N)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**Hey! So, just letting everyone know, I kinda changed the timeline a little bit. Naruto came back to the village with Jiraiya a few months before he had to rescue Gaara. So he has met Captain Yamato. He hasn't seen Sasuke yet though, and that thing with Orochimaru and Kabuto never happened. Just wanted to clarify that, here is some information for the story:**

_**THE TASOGARE (DUSK)**_

**Gaara**

**Alias=Beju (Beige)**

**Tailed Beast=One-Tail (Ichibi/Shukaku)**

**Appearance=Short, spiky, auburn hair; blue-green eyes; fair skin; distinctive tattoo for "love" on the left side of forehead. Face is covered with beige mask.**

**Most Famous/Used Skills= Sand Manipulation; Partial/Full Tailed Beast Transformation**

**Nature Type=Wind**

**Ninja Rank=Kage**

**Hidden Village=Sunagakure**

**Naruto Uzumaki  
**

**Alias=Orenji (Orange)**

**Tailed Beast=Nine-Tails (Kyuubi/Kurama)**

**Appearance=Spiky yellowish-blonde hair; blue eyes; distinctive whisker marks on each cheek. Face is covered with orange mask.**

**Most Famous/Used Skills=Shadow Clone Jutsu; Summoning Jutsu (Toads); Rasengan**

**Nature Type=Wind**

**Ninja Rank=Genin**

**Hidden Village=Konohagakure**

**CHAPTER 3**

Naruto was happy. It was good to be back in Konoha. He had rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki, and now he was at the Ichiraku Ramen stand—which he called the best place on Earth.

"Welcome back Naruto," said Teuchi as he placed a large bowl in front of him. "Here's one miso pork ramen on the house."

"Wow, thanks!" Naruto said. He broke his chopsticks, said his thanks, and dove right in. The ramen couldn't taste any better. Actually it would have been a lot better if Sakura agreed to go on a date with him, but like always she turned him down.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

If Naruto hadn't been in such a good mood, then he definitely would've freaked out. Obviously someone had tried to sneak up on him, and succeeded in doing so. He turned around cautiously but was surprised when he found out who it was. It was Gaara, the Fifth Kazekage, much to Naruto's annoyance. Yeah he'll admit, he was a little jealous when he found out Gaara had obtained the title of Kage before he did. It was so unfair—he had a three year head start! Of course this didn't discourage Naruto; instead he became more determined to catch up with him. Gaara, had blood-red hair and blue-green eyes with no pupils; giving him an eerie appearance right off the bat. There were still dark bags around his eyes, but they didn't look as bad as before. His tattoo was on the left side of his forehead. The same sand gourd was still on his back as well. He was wearing a sophisticated crimson outfit, making him look even more superior opposed to Naruto's stupid orange attire. If there was one thing that Naruto had on him—it was height. Naruto was considerably taller than Gaara, but that was about it.

"Oh hey, Gaara! Watcha doin' here?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I came to talk to you," Gaara said in his raspy voice.

"Oh, er, sure! Take a seat! Say, have you ever had ramen before?"

Gaara looked at him with an impassive gaze. "What's that?"

"Oh, you've gotta try it! It's the best food in the world, you know!" Naruto looked at Teuchi, who gave him a thumbs up in response.

"… Food?"

"Yeah! C'mon, sit down,"

"… Alright," Gaara said, not seeing what the problem was. Once Gaara sat down, Naruto managed to take the conversation into his control, making Gaara forget why he was there. Most of the questions Naruto asked were about being Gaara being Kazekage. Gaara's replies were short, but he told Naruto that it was a big responsibility. He went on to explain paperwork, meetings, and other stuff Naruto wasn't expecting to hear. Naruto knew that when the time came, he would have the same responsibilities too. When he thought about being Hokage, he didn't expect it to be so much work like Gaara had told him. Then again, Grandma Tsunade was always complaining about paperwork, but Naruto thought that the old hag was just over-exaggerating. He deflated a bit; but then perked up all of the sudden. He interrupted Gaara and told him that he would become Hokage no matter what. He also gave a long speech telling Gaara that he would be able to overcome any obstacles that should in his way. Finally, he explained that he was going to change the ways of the world, starting with the Hyuga clan. Gaara was the least to say, shocked at Naruto's response. He didn't know what it was about Naruto, but somehow the blonde managed to turn everything negative and turn it into a positive. Gaara knew he was special—he just didn't know why.

"So, how is it?" Naruto asked excitingly.

"It's… tasty." Gaara responded.

"Heh, I knew you'd like it!" Naruto eagerly drank what was left in his ninth bowl. After he was done, he set it atop a stack of his other bowls, and asked for another. Gaara didn't know how the blue-eyed blonde ate so much, but decided it was best not to ask.

"So Gaara, whatcha gonna do now?"

Gaara turned to him blankly. "Hm?"

"You know, like what are you gonna do now that you're Kazekage?" Gaara honestly hadn't thought about it. He knew that he wanted to be Kazekage, but not anything else after that.

"I… I don't really know." he said honestly.

The blonde put his hands behind his head, unsatisfied by Gaara's answer. "You don't know? Come on, there's gotta be something you wanna do,"

"What about you?"

"Huh, what about me?"

"Tell me, Naruto Uzumaki, what will you do after you become Hokage?"

The blonde thought about this for a moment. "Hmm, well first I'm going to change the Hyuga clan. I don't like the fact that one side gets treated like royalty while the other gets cursed to become slaves. I want to bring the two branches of the family together, like I promised Neji I would."

"That's understandable. Then what?"

"Well, I know by that time I'm going to have to bring Sasuke back too,"

"Do you really think he would agree to that?"

Naruto turned to Gaara with an unreadable expression on his face. "It… it doesn't matter. I promised Sakura I would bring him back. And I never go back on my word."

"To be honest, I don't really know what happened between you and Sasuke," Gaara's words forced Naruto to look at him. "However, you two never seemed to get along with one another. Sasuke tried to kill you, and yet you still long for him to return."

Naruto stared at the wooden surface surface in front of him. Memories of the fight with Sasuke came to mind. Naruto memorized every word Sasuke spoke. He had nightmares about the fight ever since the day it happened, until he went on his training trip with Jiraiya.

He clenched his fists tightly, and Gaara took note of this. "Still… Sasuke, he's my best friend. Even though I said I hated him before, the truth was that I envied him. I wanted to be just like him. But instead I turned him into my rival. He always did everything better than me, and I hated him for it. He was the reason I wanted to become stronger, so that one day, I could beat him and win over Sakura. He always called me a loser, the dobe, the deadlast. But somehow we bonded once we were on Team Seven. Our friendship is complicated… But no matter what he's still my comrade, and I would do anything to save him."

Gaara carefully analyzed Naruto's speech. He came to a conclusion that Naruto Uzumaki was a very strange person.

"It seems… you do not truly understand your friend." With curiosity, Naruto turned to Gaara again.

"You and I, we shared the same pain. The feeling of loneliness; it's one of the most unbearable feelings there are. Somehow you've managed to find precious people to fill the emptiness of your heart. On the other hand I embraced my loneliness to escape from the pain, and my loneliness quickly turned to hatred. My hatred turned into the thirst for power, and I wished to kill anyone who stood in the way. I turned myself into a monster."

"I used to think that the word 'friend' was just another word. That was until I met you, then I understood the true meaning of the word and its purpose. I realized you were my first true friend Naruto, because you were the one who helped me understand that."

"I myself made a promise recently. As the Kazekage I will guard you with my life. If Sasuke stands in the way of that, I will show him no mercy." Gaara tried putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder, but Naruto quickly batted it away.

"I truly believe that you can save Sasuke one day," Gaara continued, ignoring Naruto's rude gesture. "However, you have not experienced his hatred, and therefore you cannot truly understand him. I can understand him to a small degree, but I highly doubt that he would listen to me. He will only listen to himself. He's the only one who can save himself from the darkness,"

"So what? Are you saying that I should just let him go?" Naruto growled.

"No. Do not break the bonds that you two shared. I'm saying to let Sasuke choose his own path. Do not interfere with his life anymore, Uzumaki. If you do, then his hatred will only grow. Whatever path he chooses, shall determine your actions to deal with him in the future. However, if you are truly ready to become a Kage, then as Sasuke's friend you know what you must do."

Gaara's words hit him like a brick wall. If Naruto were to ask any of his friends, they would tell him that Sasuke was a traitor. He wouldn't listen to them. He couldn't! Sasuke wasn't like that. But the real question was; what was Sasuke like now?

Gaara looked at Naruto and saw the tears that were about to fall. He decided it was time to put an end to his argument, because he wasn't very good at 'comforting' people in these situations.

"Let's disband the topic of Sasuke for now. That's not the reason I came to talk to you,"

Naruto didn't look at him. His eyes were glued downwards on his lap, with a defeated look on his face. "What is it, then?"

After Gaara explained his entire plan, there was a mix of emotions that came onto Naruto. First he was confused. Very, very, very confused. Then he was a little upset, knowing that he would have to leave Konoha once more. But most of all, he was confused.

"Wow, are we really going to do this Gaara?"

"Yes." Gaara replied with no uncertainty in his voice. "It's time for the Akatsuki to be stopped, and this is the only way it can be done."

"But! You're the Kazekage now!"

"I have that taken care of. My village will be left in good hands,"

"And Grandma Tsunade knows about this?"

"She does. I've also received permission from the councils of Suna and Konoha." Naruto was silent for a few moments. He was still shocked that Gaara had done something like that.

"Wow, I can't believe you went through all that trouble…"

Gaara gave him a neutral look. "It was actually because of you, Uzumaki, that I arranged all of this."

"What?! Me?! I didn't do anything!"

"You helped me realize the importance of protecting others, especially those who are precious to you. I believe we can save people who are just like us; people who have experienced the same pain of being a jinchuriki. Once I was only a weapon of my village; a weapon of nuisance and destruction. Maybe there's someone out there who feels the same way. I wish to help them just like you helped me. Uzumaki, you were truly the blessing of my life."

"Er, thanks?" said Naruto, who wasn't expecting all of the praise.

Gaara gave him a single nod. "I wish to become more like you one day." Naruto didn't get it. Why would Gaara want to become more like him? He was the one who was the Kazekage. Naruto was still only a genin. It should have been Naruto who looked up to Gaara, not the other way around.

Despite the confusion, Naruto gave Gaara a large grin. "You shouldn't change who you are, Gaara. I think it's cool that you want to become more like me, but you should just be yourself. People look up to you, not me. Your whole village looks up to you now!"

Gaara didn't say anything for a while, but finally replied, "I will keep that in mind."

Naruto smiled. "Good. Now, when do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. You should pack up tonight." Naruto nodded at him, but then frowned.

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked.

"Nothing. It's just, well, I don't know. I just got back from a training trip with my sensei a few months ago. I can't believe I have to leave everyone again."

Gaara closed his eyes in understanding. "Yes, I understand how you feel. However, this is more important than anything else right now. Not only is this an S-ranked mission, but we're also pretending to be criminals. We'll have new names as well. The fate of the world may depend on how this goes. However, I believe that we can do it. We need to stop the Akatsuki from whatever they're planning to do with us."

Naruto gave Gaara a huge smile. "Yeah, you're right. Let's do it!"

Naruto and Gaara paid for their food and exited the ramen stand. They were about to go their separate ways until Naruto said, "Hey wait! Am I allowed to tell Sakura-chan about this?"

Gaara turned around to face Naruto. "Tell who you must. But remember this mission is an S-class secret."

"Oh, okay. Well I'll see you tomorrow Gaara!" With that, Naruto ran off to get ready for his trip.

* * *

"What?! Your leaving?!" asked a confused Temari. Gaara was busy getting everything ready in his hotel room. He had just told his sister that he was leaving the village for a while. Temari was not very pleased with this at all.

"I have some important matters that need attending to."

"You can't just leave, Gaara. What about the village?!"

"What about it? I already left all of my responsibilities to you and Kankuro. I don't like repeating myself, Temari."

Temari let up a little bit. "But Gaara, the villagers… They need you there. I need you there, Gaara. And so does Kankuro."

Gaara repressed a sigh. He hated talking sometimes. It was exhausting to him.

He turned to his older sister and looked her dead in the eye, letting her know that he was serious. Temari flinched a little. Gaara used to give her that stare all the time, when he became a cold-blooded psychopath. It was one of the few things that scared Temari senseless.

Gaara realized he was scaring Temari, so he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Sister, I am sorry for putting this burden on you so suddenly. However, this is something that is important to me and it is something I must do."

Gaara was about to walk past Temari, but before he did he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Forgive me if you do not understand."

Gaara left the room with Temari still standing there. She couldn't argue with her brother, especially when he was in a serious mood like that. She also knew that if Gaara was leaving his village, then it must have been something really important.

At least she hoped it was.

* * *

"So you're going on another trip?" Sakura asked with disbelief.

Naruto nodded. He reached over to the center of the table where the barbeque was and grabbed a few pieces of meat. He had invited all of his friends for dinner to tell them about the news.

"Why are you leaving so suddenly?" asked Neji. Naruto said nothing, remembering Gaara's words about the mission being a secret.

"It's because of the Akatsuki, isn't it?" Sakura confirmed with a sad tone.

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, that's part of it. But don't worry! I'll be fine. Gaara's coming with me too,"

"Naruto," Shikamaru spoke, "we just wanted to tell you, all of us know…"

"Know, what?"

"We know about the Nine-Tails," Sakura said. Naruto looked confused for a moment, but soon realized what they meant.

"Oh… You guys know about that, huh?" he asked nervously.

"You don't have to hide it anymore, Naruto." Sakura said. "The Akatsuki are really dangerous. And as your friends we're here to help you."

Naruto looked at all of his friends: Shikamaru, Choji, Neji, Ino, and finally, Sakura. Across from his table there was his other group of friends: Tenten, Lee, Hinata, Sai, Shino, and Kiba, since all of Rookie Twelve couldn't fit into one booth.

"Thanks guys! That means a lot, you know!" Naruto smiled happily. "But… I still can't let you come with me."

"Why not?" asked Sakura.

"Well, all I can say is that, er, that Gaara and I are going into hiding for a while. I can't say anything else. It's an S-class secret,"

"But Naruto, you being a jinchuriki was also an S-class secret," Sakura protested. "You're our friend Naruto, you can trust us,"

"Sakura, that's enough," Shikamaru intervened. "If Naruto said that this is an S-class secret, then there's nothing else he should be telling us. Friends or not, anything S-ranked is supposed to be classified."

"Shikamaru is correct," said Neji. "We shouldn't push Naruto to share anymore information with us."

Sakura let out a defeated sigh. "Alright,"

"Good, now let's eat!" Choji stated randomly as he grabbed all of the meat that was cooking on the barbeque.

"Hey Choji! That's mine, give it back! I cooked it!" Ino yelled.

"This meat was won fair and square, and it should be cherished by one who deserves it."

"I deserve it! Now give it back you fats-"

"Don't say that word!" Shikamaru interrupted.

"For all of our sakes," Neji muttered.

Naruto laughed. He was really going to miss all of his friends.

* * *

Neji was walking with Hinata back to the Hyuga complex. All of the sudden he stopped, sensing a presence nearby.

"I know you're there. Come out," Neji proclaimed.

"Wh-what's wrong, Neji?" asked a worried Hinata.

A figure came out from the shadows. To both of the Hyuga's surprise, it was Gaara, of the Desert.

"Neji Hyuga," Gaara said, "I wish to speak with you."

Neji narrowed his eyes at the red-haired teen. After the whole Chunin Exams incident, Neji had a hard time trusting the Sand Siblings—even if they were allies of the Leaf. But since Gaara was now Kazekage, Neji had no choice but to show some respect to the superior.

"Hinata, go home."

"B-but Neji-"

"I will be alright," Neji stated. "Go home now, or else your father will be worried."

"O-okay," Hinata squeaked out. She quickly walked home, leaving Neji and Gaara to themselves.

"What do you want?" Neji asked.

"I need to ask a favor from you." Gaara explained what he needed, and to Neji it seemed like a weird request.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" Gaara couldn't help but to smirk a little bit. Even after all of this time, people were still afraid of him.

"I do not intend to use it for my village. It's only a safety precaution for Naruto and I."

At the mention of Naruto's name, Neji seemed to consider the idea. After thinking for some time, Neji finally answered, "I believe I might have what you need. Follow me back to the compound," Neji turned and started walking away from Gaara.

"Very well."

Once Gaara and Neji arrived at the Hyuga household, Neji used his Byakugan to locate a secret shed underground. Neji opened the shed and walked down the steps, being closely followed by the Kazekage. Inside the shed, there were many old and unique weapons. Most of them probably haven't been used for a long time. Even Gaara was impressed by the variety.

Neji grabbed something from one of the shelves a displayed it in front of Gaara. To him, it looked like an ordinary ninja vest made out a metal of some sort. It also had sharp edges near the shoulders.

"This is an armored vest that was worn by Kumo ninja during the Third Shinobi World War," Neji explained. "The metal it's made of, however, hides the chakra reserves of anyone who wears it. No sensory ninja can see past it; not even myself."

"No one will be able to detect the person wearing it?" Gaara asked.

"That is correct. You will be undetected if you go through enemy territory. My clan managed to steal a lot of these during the war. How many do you need?"

"Nine." Gaara answered.

Neji smirked. "So I thought,"

"So you knew…"

"I had my suspicions."

Gaara knew that Neji was considered a genius in the village. He was already a jonin like his siblings, and Gaara could tell that everything he did was carefully planned out. It wasn't surprising that he guessed it firsthand.

Gaara said, "I ask you to not share this information with anyone else."

"I understand. Here is a scroll containing the nine vests. I wish you luck on your mission."

Gaara took the scroll and thanked him, leaving the Hyuga compound.

* * *

Naruto sighed in relief. He had just finished cleaning up his apartment (something he rarely does) before he left the village with Gaara. He looked around his place and nodded in approval before walking over to his bed. There was a new outfit laid out for him there. Gaara gave it to him, saying his black and orange jumpsuit attracted too much attention. They argued about this for a little while. Naruto had just gotten that jumpsuit from Pervy Sage after his extraordinary growth spurt. Naruto loved orange, and asking him to stop wearing the jumpsuit was like asking him to stop eating ramen for a month, which was nearly impossible. Naruto continued to protest until Gaara gave him 'the glare'. That was what abruptly ended the argument and caused Naruto to shut up once and for all.

After Naruto put the outfit on, he looked at himself closely in the mirror. He was wearing a ninja vest made out of silver metal, with sharp edges near the shoulders. Underneath that was a white, long sleeve shirt that also covered his neck. He had red gloves on his hands. He was also wearing white ninja pants that matched his long sleeve shirt, and went down just past his calves. They had a single light blue stripe on each side. On his feet were red shinobi sandals, instead of his regular black ones. Tied around his waist was a thick light blue belt, but Naruto tied it so that it hung on his right side. On top of all of that, he wore a white cape with a hood, which completely covered his hair. In the center of the back of the cape, there was a symbol. The symbol looked similar to the one on a Chunin vest, except the swirl was a slightly different design. It was also light blue and red, instead of plain orange.

He was surprised at how comfortable the outfit was. Even the vest was flexible and easy to move in. Anyone else would say that he looked like a "true shinobi". However there was one thing he had yet to put on. It was a mask that Gaara had given him. It was a weird mask—it was thick, and plain orange (which Naruto was excited about). It had no designs, and it didn't even look remotely close to an Anbu mask. It was made so that it covered everything except the eyes and the bridge of the nose. He decided to put it on later and ask Gaara about it when he got the chance.

Naruto was about to leave until something caught his eye. It was a picture of team seven that was presented on his bedside table. Naruto picked up the picture frame and stared at it. He replayed Gaara's words about Sasuke over and over in his mind—to let Sasuke choose his own path. To trust Sasuke to make his own decisions independently.

Using his fingers, Naruto pinched to picture inside the frame and took it out completely. He folded the picture into two, and slid it in his white pants before leaving his apartment.

He would not give up on Sasuke. Not now, not ever.

* * *

Naruto and Gaara were waiting to leave at the front gate. It was early in the morning, and a few people came to watch them take off, including Tsunade, Yamato, Jiraiya, Temari, and the Suna council members.

Tsunade said, "Well you two, I hope your journey goes according to plan."

Gaara gave her a respectful nod. "Thank you, we appreciate that."

"But," she added, "Since Naruto's going with you, I doubt that will happen." Naruto became depressed at Tsunade's words while everyone else was laughed, knowing it was true. "Oh and Naruto, I assume you know Captain Yamato,"

Naruto knew the man from a few missions they went on together. He took Kakashi's place a few times when he was on 'emergency' missions. "Hey, Captain Yamato!"

"Naruto," Yamato greeted.

"Yamato has put a special sealing jutsu on you, Naruto," Tsunade explained. "So if you ever lose control of the Nine-Tails chakra, Yamato will know and come rushing to help you."

"Wha? But how?"

"That necklace your wearing Naruto is from the First Hokage," said Yamato. Naruto automatically fingered his necklace and tucked it in under his shirt. "Since my kekkei genkai is also from the First Hokage, I'll be able to know if you lose control. And stop you, if may be."

Naruto frowned. "Oh, okay…"

"But don't worry, that's only if worse comes to worst."

"Oh but first, Naruto," Jiraiya walked to his student and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't use that power until someone teaches you to control it," he whispered to him. "Even though Yamato has a sealing jutsu on you, doesn't mean that that the Nine-Tails can over-power it." Naruto gulped.

"Temari, make sure you take care of everyone." Gaara said to her.

"I will,"

"Let's go then, Naruto,"

Naruto waved. "Bye everybody!"

"Naruto! Wait!"

"Huh, what was that?" In the distance, Naruto spotted a pink-haired figure running towards him. "Oh hey, Sakura-chan!"

"Naruto," Sakura panted. "Are you leaving now?"

"Yep!"

Sakura managed to stand up straight. "Oh…"

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, I'll be-" Naruto stopped himself when he felt a pair arms wrap around him.

"Er, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura let go of him slowly and took a step back. "Be careful, alright?"

Naruto stared at her for a moment before grinning. "Sure thing."

Naruto and Gaara said their final goodbyes and walked away from the front gate. Naruto also took in Gaara's appearance, and to his surprise, he was wearing the same thing as him. But he still had his sand gourd that was covered by the white cape.

"Hey Gaara, what's with this outfit? Not that I don't like it or anything."

Gaara gave him a sideways glance. "It's our wardrobe."

"Really? Cool! But what about the mask?"

"Put it on," he ordered. Both of them grabbed the masks that were resting on their heads and positioned them on their faces. Naruto realized that Gaara was wearing a beige mask instead of his orange one, but the plain design was still the same. "From now on, we are the Tasogare (Dusk). We will be rivals of the Akatsuki."

Naruto smiled even though his expression couldn't be seen. "You've got it, Gaara."

"Oh, about that," Gaara continued. "My name is not to be used when we're out in the open. There are Akatsuki spies looking for us, even if we cannot see them. From now on, you will call me Beju (Beige)."

"Er, okay?"

"You will be Orenji (Orange)."

"Oh, I get it! It's based on the colors of our masks!"

"That's right."

"I have one more question," Naruto said.

"What is it?"

"Where are we going?"

Tired of talking, Gaara reached into his pocket and grabbed a familiar black book.

"Hey, that's-"

"Yes, it is. Open it and look for the jinchuriki of the Two-Tails."

Naruto obliged and turned to the next page after Gaara. "It says her name is Yugito,"

"And…?"

"She's from Kumo. Oh, so that's where we're going!"

"Hn."

"Let's see here, it says that she's a seventeen-year-old jonin, like Neji. She's completed 95 D-rank, 46 C-rank, 178 B-rank, 130 A-rank, and 17 S-rank missions. Woah, that's a lot! Why did they assign her so many?!"

Gaara scoffed. "It doesn't surprise me."

"Huh?" Naruto replied intelligently.

"Villages like Kumo like to train their jinchuriki so they're able to control their tailed beasts. They even go through a training program to do it."

"Wow, really?" Naruto said, amazed.

"Yes. They're also sent on more missions than others because they heal faster, and are less likely to be killed. Knowing Kumo, she's probably been a jonin for quite some time."

"_**Ugh, lucky! Why didn't I get this special treatment?" **_Naruto thought to himself.

"Hey Gaa-I mean, Beju. Why didn't you go on as many missions as she has? It says in here that you've only completed 34. I know you weren't assigned any D-rank missions, but still…"

"My village has always been in a great deal of debt. We can't afford to send our shinobi on missions as much as your village can."

"Oh, man, that sucks."

Gaara sighed deeply. "I know. My father tried desperately to get our village out of poverty. I'm afraid to say he failed miserably. He was so caught up with me, that he didn't pay enough attention to his responsibilities. He believed we could even ourselves out with the other villages with power. And then I became a problem, so he tried to get rid of me. He failed then as well. It seemed that no matter what he did, things never went his way."

"You're dad tried to kill you! Why?!"

"I can understand why he did it. I caused many deaths when I lost control. It took my father to stop me every time that happened. The council pressured him to deal with me, and he didn't know how to do it." Gaara looked up to the morning sky. "That doesn't matter to me now, however. My father's mistakes cannot be unmade."

"So, is that what you're going to do?"

Gaara turned to Naruto. "Hm?"

"You're going to do what your father couldn't. You're going to get your village out of debt, and when I become Hokage, I'm gonna help you do it. Deal?"

Gaara looked at Naruto blankly before replying. "Yes, you're right. I shall do what my father could never accomplish."

"All-right! That's the spirit!"

"Hmph," was all Gaara could say.

"Well anyways, what country is Kumo in?"

"The Land of Lightning. It will take about five days to get there if we go at a faster pace."

"Well, what are we standin' around for? Land of Lightning, here we come!"


End file.
